The present invention relates generally to movable or removable closures and, more particularly to facially opposed primary and auxiliary closures for a common opening in a building structure.
Various news outlets reported recently that a blaze started in a home""s living room. When awakened, one victim broke a bedroom window in an attempt to escape only to find his passage blocked by an aluminum storm shutter. Trapped, he was soon overcome by smoke and died. In preparing for hurricane force winds, a homeowner overlooked another dangerxe2x80x94fire.
It is well known that conventional shutters must be opened by one positioned outside a building. While such shutters are adequate to protect the windows of a home or other building structure from damage during violent storms, they lack quick-release mechanisms permitting the escape of building occupants in emergencies. Therefore, a need presently exists for a window shutter unit that may be locked closed against the forces of a storm yet that allows building occupants to quickly uncover a window and easily pass through during emergencies, such as fires, which require immediate exit to avoid serious injury or death.
In light of the problems associated with the known storm shutters, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a window shutter unit which can be locked in a closed position to cover and protect a window of a building structure during a storm yet can be easily unlocked and opened to permit the passage of building occupants in the event of an emergency.
It is another object of the invention to provide a window shutter unit of the type described which may be permanently mounted on a building structure so that it is always accessible and ready for use in the event of a severe storm.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a window shutter unit that may be easily installed on both existing building structures and those contemplated for future construction.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a window shutter unit for the purposes described which is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and fully dependable in use.
Briefly, the window shutter unit in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring a frame for mounting upon a wall in surrounding relation to a window and a panel movably supported by the frame. The panel has a vertically oriented rack and an aperture beneath the rack. A rotatable and longitudinally movable shaft with a pinion gear at one end is positioned in the wall beneath the window. Rotating the shaft selectively raises or lowers the panel within the frame. Also, longitudinally moving the shaft positions the pinion within the aperture to selectively lock the panel in a raised position.